Ominous Signs in Saigon

Saigon and censorship have been bedfellows since the days when dispatches began with Indochina datelines. For years the censor's work was highly visible; Saigon newspapers were a patchwork of white space and type. Fourteen months ago, local censorship entered a new phase. Editors could print what they pleased, but they risked suspension of their papers if they violated the pitfall-laden maze of press regulations. So far 31 Saigon papers have run afoul of the government, and 14 of them remain closed. Through it all, foreign journalists have, with rare exceptions, been exempted not only from restrictions but from coercion as well --though offending foreign publications, including TIME, have been banned from time to time. Last week some ominous signs appeared indicating that press freedom for foreigners may be in jeopardy.

One by one, the bureau chiefs of Reuters, Agence France-Presse and Newsweek were summoned to the former French colonial bank building that houses Saigon's Ministry of Information to face Tran Van Phuoc, director of the cabinet at the ministry. Phuoc's message: reporting detrimental to "the fighting spirit" of South Viet Nam must stop.

Swift Exodus. Reuters was on the carpet for a story suggesting that President Thieu was about to create an advisory council to broaden the government's popularity. Agence France came under fire for a dispatch suggesting (apparently erroneously) that Premier Tran Van Huong was being forced out of office. Phuoc was also incensed over an article in Newsweek that reported that many leading Vietnamese, including Madame Thieu, had purchased villas abroad and otherwise prepared for a swift exodus if Americans withdraw and a coalition government takes over.

Threatening to expel offending journalists, Phuoc told TIME Correspondent Burton Pines last week: "It is time to end the distinction between the foreign and local press. We have taken no action against foreigners because we considered them as guests. Now that will stop. We wish that we could be as hospitable as before, but now we have begun the political battle."

It remains to be seen whether last week's incidents and Phuoc's bombast really portend cancellations of newsmen's visas or merely serve internal political needs. To the degree that South Viet Nam's fight for independent survival depends on U.S. support, Saigon's new policy may only hurt its own cause. U.S. journalists, like those in other nations accustomed to a free press, have been known to respond to restrictions with unsympathetic dispatches.

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